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SPAR South Africa golf day a hit with charities

Thanks to excellent local support, SPAR South Africa’s Eastern Cape Partner was again able to make a substantial contribution to local charities at the 22nd annual golf day in Port Elizabeth recently.

The SPAR Golf Day saw a total of 200 golfers take on a breezy links course in support of a good cause. The three beneficiaries – Elsen Academy, Sweethearts Foundation and Zwartkops Conservancy – were each given R35,000 in donations.

The day brought together SPAR suppliers, retailers and Distribution Centre employees, helping to consolidate relationships whilst giving back to the community.

Pleased with another successful event, SPAR Eastern Cape Sponsorship and Events Manager, Alan Stapleton, said they truly appreciate the support received each year: “This was another opportunity to assist those who are trying to make the world a better place and make the lives of people less fortunate a little better.”

The three charities

The Elsen Academy is an independent school based in Port Elizabeth, registered as a non-profit organisation. It caters for children who, for varying reasons, struggle in larger school environments. Founder, Philippa Fabbri, said: “It is fantastic for us to be involved with a golf day such as this and we are extremely grateful for the contribution from SPAR.”

The Sweethearts Foundation has a two-fold objective: to assist those in need by generating funds for wheelchairs and to look after the environment by coordinating the collection of plastic bottle tops and bread tags, which are then sold to recycling organisations to generate funds for wheelchairs.

The Zwartkops Conservancy works to protect the environment in Zwartkops River Valley. It employs litter pickers who pick up hundreds of bags of litter in the river and along its banks every week. It also has a big conservation education programme which has been running for many years.

SPAR South Africa was established in 1963 and operates four retail formats: SPAR, SUPERSPAR, KWIKSPAR and SPAR Express. South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to join the SPAR organisation.

The SPAR Partner grants licences to independent retailers to operate stores under one of the four formats, with almost all of the current store portfolio being independently owned. In 2016, sales per m2 increased by 6% in Euro terms, and sales for the year from SPAR South Africa’s 821 stores were €4.47 billion.